TrinityVote - A Community Movement to Reclaim the Trinity River Project

READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING
Your signatures will be thrown out by the city if you don’t follow these instructions.

You must be at least 18 years old and able to sign an affidavit in order to gather signatures for the TrinityVote petition. You do not need to be a Dallas resident to gather signatures.
You will need two separate documents to gather signatures: (1) the petition and (2) the ordinance. You must attach a copy of the ordinance to your petition(s). Print as many copies of the petition as you plan to circulate, and at least one copy of the ordinance.
Print your name beside “Name of Circulator” in the box at the top of the petition page. (Petition ID is for office use only.)
Do NOT sign the “Affidavit of Circulator” at the bottom of the petition until you have finished collecting signatures and are in front of a notary (see below).

Only City of Dallas residents who are registered voters in Dallas may sign the petition.
You must personally witness each person sign the petition. You may sign your own petition.
You must include each signer’s voter registration number OR date of birth.
You may make more than one copy of the petition and attach them together. Please number the petition pages.
Approach potential petition signers and ask them:
- “Would you sign our petition to let you vote on whether to prohibit the toll road in the Downtown Trinity Park?”
- If they say “yes,” confirm that they are a registered voter AND a resident of the City of Dallas. (Voters from Highland Park and University Park, or surrounding cities such as Garland, Rowlett, etc., are ineligible to sign the petition.)
- Read the petition signers the statement at the top of the petition that begins, “We, the undersigned…” Show them the attached ordinance and give them the opportunity to read it.
- Once they’ve signed the petition, thank them and move on to the next potential signer.
- If they would like to volunteer, make a contribution, or need further information, encourage them to go to www.trinityvote.com or write down their name, email address, and phone number and we will contact them. (Do NOT write this on the petition.)

If you’re collecting signatures at a polling location, look for the “Distance Marker.” This will be a sign on a pole, the ground, or the building itself. This marker tells you how close you can come to the entrance of the polling location. If you’re not sure, ask the election judge inside the polls.
Do not block the driveway or sidewalks leading up to the polling location.
Do not yell or use any type of speaker that would allow you to be heard inside the polling location.
Do not leave your petitions and materials unattended at any time.
If someone does not want to talk to you, thank them and move on to the next voter. Do NOT waste time arguing and miss the opportunity to get signatures from other voters.

Turn in your petitions to us once a week. We will be verifying voters’ signatures as we go.
Once you’re finished collecting signatures, you must get the petition(s) notarized. You must personally appear before the notary. Your petitions must be notarized to be valid.
- Notarize your petitions on your own: Most banks have notaries (who charge a small fee). Number the pages in the box at the top of the page. If you have more than one petition page, you only need to have the top page notarized as long as all pages are stapled together.
  - TrinityVote must have your ORIGINAL signed petition pages to submit to the city. Copies, scans, or faxes are NOT acceptable.
  - Mail your notarized petitions to: TrinityVote
    P.O. Box 223986
    Dallas, TX 75222
- Let us notarize your petitions: Drop by our offices at the Turley Law Center at 6440 N. Central Expressway, Suite 100 (just south of University Blvd.) on Sunday between 9 a.m. and noon and we’ll notarize your petitions for you.

If you have questions or problems, please call us at (214) 586-7275 or email us at trinity@trinityvote.com.

ORDINANCE NO. ________
An ordinance amending CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas City Code, by creating a new Article VII, “Trinity River Greenbelt,” comprising Section 32-84 of said chapter; prohibiting certain roadways within the Trinity River levees; prohibiting the expenditure of funds for certain roadways within the Trinity River levees; providing for enforcement by suit for injunctive or declaratory relief; providing a penalty not to exceed $500; providing a saving clause; providing a severability clause; and providing an effective date.

     WHEREAS, the Trinity River Corridor is among Dallas’ greatest natural assets; and

     WHEREAS, in 1998 voters approved $246 million in City of Dallas bond funds to improve the Trinity River Corridor, including transforming the Downtown portion into a premier urban park, improving floodway protections, and constructing the Trinity Parkway; and

     WHEREAS, the Trinity Parkway was envisioned as a low-speed reliever route that would provide direct access to the park and would be built within the Trinity River levees; and

     WHEREAS, the Trinity Parkway has changed significantly from what voters approved in 1998, to wit: it has become a high-speed toll road, direct access to the park has been eliminated, it is nearly $600 million over budget, its proposed location has been moved farther into the park area thus eliminating substantial amounts of parkland, and its location in the floodway would make it susceptible to flooding; and

     WHEREAS, locating such a toll road in the Downtown Trinity Park would have a significant, damaging effect on the quality of the Downtown Trinity Park for generations to come; and

     WHEREAS, this ordinance was submitted by petition to the City Council, and was passed by the City Council or was submitted to the voters of the City of Dallas at an election held pursuant to Chapter XVIII, Sections 11 through 15, of the Charter of the City of Dallas, and was duly adopted by the voters at said election;

     Now, therefore, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OR CITIZENS OF THE CITY OF DALLAS:

     SECTION 1. That a new Article VII, “Trinity River Greenbelt,” comprising Section 32-84, “Road Construction, Improvement, and Maintenance Within Trinity River Levees,” is added to CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas City Code, to read as follows:

“ARTICLE VII.
TRINITY RIVER GREENBELT.

     SEC. 32-84. ROAD CONSTRUCTION, IMPROVEMENT, AND MAINTENANCE WITHIN TRINITY RIVER LEVEES.

     (a) No person shall construct, maintain, or improve any roadway, or portion thereof, horizontally situated between the respective crests of the Trinity River levees, including those levees in the Dallas Floodway Extension Project, between Westmoreland Road/Mockingbird Lane on the north and Interstate 45 on the south.

     (b) No person shall directly or indirectly expend funds of the City or of any person for the construction, improvement, or maintenance of any roadway, or portion thereof, horizontally situated between the respective crests of the Trinity River levees, including those levees in the Dallas Floodway Extension Project, between Westmoreland Road/Mockingbird Lane on the north and Interstate 45 on the south.

     (c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to:

          (1) a roadway that crosses the entirety of the Trinity River floodplain between the crests of the levees and that was fully constructed and open to the public on or before the effective date of this ordinance;

          (2) a roadway that perpendicularly crosses the entirety of the Trinity River floodplain between the crests of the levees;

          (3) a roadway consisting of no more than two travel lanes in each direction, used for access to points within the Trinity River levees, and having a maximum speed limit not to exceed thirty-five (35) miles per hour; or

          (4) a roadway consisting of no more than two travel lanes, situated at or within fifty (50) feet of the crest of a levee, used solely for maintenance purposes, and not open to the general public for vehicular use.

     (d) In this section:

          (1) a roadway crosses “perpendicularly” when the straight line between the point of intersection of the roadway with the crest of one levee and the point of intersection of the roadway with the crest of the other levee bears at an angle of at least seventy (70) degrees to the line tangent to the crest of each levee at the point of intersection of the roadway with the crest of that levee;

          (2) the term “person”

               (i) means any individual and any corporation (including any non-profit corporation), estate, partnership, trust, unincorporated association, or other legal entity organized under the laws of any state or country; and

               (ii) includes the United States of America or any agency thereof and the State of Texas or any agency thereof, and any person acting under the authority thereof, but only to the maximum extent that the City of Dallas may lawfully regulate the activities of such persons or entities occurring on the property subject to this ordinance;

          (3) “roadway” means any street, alley, road, highway, tollway, turnpike, parkway, boulevard, avenue, bridge, viaduct, tunnel, underpass, overpass, or causeway open to use by motor vehicles; and

          (4) “agency” means a board, commission, department, officer, political subdivision, or other agency or instrumentality in the executive, legislative, or judicial branch of government.

     (e) In addition to all other enforcement mechanisms authorized by law, this ordinance may be enforced by a suit for injunctive or declaratory relief brought by any registered voter of the City of Dallas.”

     SECTION 2. That a person violating a provision of this ordinance, upon conviction, is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500.

     SECTION 3. That CHAPTER 32, “PARKS AND WATER RESERVOIRS,” of the Dallas City Code is unaffected by this ordinance except insofar as said chapter is explicitly amended by this ordinance.

     SECTION 4. That the terms and provisions of this ordinance are severable and are governed by Section 1-4 of CHAPTER 1 of the Dallas City Code, as amended. If the application of this ordinance to any person, entity, or circumstance is invalid, the invalidity does not affect other applications of the ordinance that can be given effect without the invalid application, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council or the citizens of Dallas without regard to any such invalid application.

     SECTION 5. That in the event this ordinance is adopted by the City Council, it shall take effect immediately from and after its passage and publication in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the City of Dallas, and in the event this ordinance is adopted by the citizens of Dallas in an election called for that purpose, it shall take effect immediately after the canvass of the election in which it is adopted, in accordance with the provisions of the Charter of the City of Dallas, and it is accordingly so ordained.